Long Term Antidepressant Use Associated With Increased Morbidity and Mortality
A study finds that commonly prescribed antidepressants are associated with the development of diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases.
Antidepressants Blunt Ability to Feel Empathy
A new study suggests that taking antidepressants impairs empathy, while the experience of depression itself does not.
Limitations Of Observational Studies Often Not Mentioned
Mentions of studies' limitations are often buried deep in papers, and then mentions of their existence at all drop steadily thereafter in abstracts, press releases and news stories.
How Race and Class Impact Schizophrenia and Substance-Use Diagnoses
A new article explores how psychiatric diagnoses are differentially applied to people of different racial and class backgrounds.
How Social Dynamics at School Impact Teen Suicide
Teen suicide risk is influenced by relationships with adults and teachers, perceived popularity, close friendships, and school connectedness.
Psychiatric Drug Ads Lead to More Prescriptions and Worse Treatment
A new analysis published in the The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry investigates the public health effects of direct-to-consumer advertisements for psychiatric drugs. The researchers...
Decontextualized Depression and PTSD Diagnoses Fail Indigenous Communities
A case analysis of an American Indian woman illustrates how the DSM diagnostic criteria misrepresent the lives of indigenous people.
Mental Health Care is the Third Highest Medical Expense in U.S.
A study published today in Jama Psychiatry finds that mental health care ties with cancer for the third highest medical expense in the United...
Economic Deprivation and Social Fragmentation Drive Suicide Rates in US
Major study finds that economic deprivation and a lack of social capital are driving increasing rates of suicide in the U.S.
Antipsychotics Often Prescribed Without Informed Consent
New research reveals that patients are often not given fully informed consent before being prescribed antipsychotics.
Recovery Rate Six Times Higher For Those Who Stop Antipsychotics Within Two Years
People with "serious mental illness" who stop taking antipsychotics are more likely to recover, even when accounting for baseline severity.
Psychotic Experiences Are Not Strongly Associated With Schizophrenia
Although psychotic experiences (PEs) and schizophrenia are thought to share similar etiological risk factors, PEs also co-exist with depression and, according to research from...
FDA: Abilify Promotions Are Misleading Physicians and the Public
The US FDA has requested that Otsuka "immediately cease" distributing some of its educational materials for its top-selling antipsychotic Abilify.
Anesthetize People to Treat PTSD Symptoms?
"Breathing in xenon, a gas used in people for anesthesia, may help treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions linked with fear and anxiety,"...
David Oaks Comes Home: “My Whole Life I Have Been Preparing for This Time”
David Oaks, whose 1998 challenge to "check out the research for yourself" led Robert Whitaker to write Mad in America and create this website,...
Self-Esteem Deficits Predict Paranoia & Positive Symptoms
Researchers from Indiana University find, in a study of 57 individuals with schizophrenia diagnoses, that "decreases in self-esteem at any given time point were...
Experts Decry Dangerous Use of Antipsychotics in Children
In a featured article for Psychiatric Services, psychiatrists from Dartmouth raise the alarm on the increasing numbers of children prescribed dangerous antipsychotic drugs. Despite the fact that data on the safety of long-term use of these drugs in this vulnerable population “do not exist,” the rate of children and adolescents being prescribed antipsychotic drugs have continued to increase over the past fifteen years.
Increasing Use of Antipsychotics for Disruptive Behavior in Children
Canadian researchers systematically reviewed all randomized controlled trials of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) and placebo in the treatment of disruptive behavior disorders in children, finding...
Internal Pfizer Report Warned of Zoloft and Birth Defect Link
"A Pfizer Inc. report shows a scientist warned executives last year about a potential link between the anti-depressant drug Zoloft and birth defects."
Zoloft Does Not Improve Depression, Even in Severe Cases, Study Finds
Despite their finding, the researchers suggest that SSRIs be given to people who do not meet criteria for depression or anxiety.
Antipsychotics Too Often Used to Dampen Aggression in Kids, Not Treat Psychosis
Antipsychotics appear to be too often prescribed to curb aggressive impulses in children and youth, rather than to treat psychosis or any other clinically indicated conditions.
Child Poverty Linked to Early Neurological Impairment
A new NIH-funded study suggests that children from low-income environments are more likely to have neurological impairments. The researchers claim that these neurodevelopmental issues are “distinct from the risk of cognitive and emotional delays known to accompany early-life poverty.”
Mindfulness Therapy Can Prevent Depression Relapse, Review Finds
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be more effective at reducing the risk of depressive relapse compared to current standard treatments with antidepressant drugs. A...
Antipsychotics and Drug Addiction
Dopamine supersensitivity as a result of sustained antipsychotic treatment can lead to compulsive drug seeking and drug-taking behavior, according to the theory offered by...
Can Psychiatry Respond to Mad Activism?
Psychiatrist Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed explores a way forward for psychiatry in responding to the Mad activism of service users.
